Blackjack is a hugely popular casino game, both to play online or to play at “real” casinos. However, whilst we normally talk about strategies and tips, blackjack bonuses or ways to try and make money playing blackjack, here we’re having a lighter look at blackjack and how this great game has been portrayed in some classic movies.

James Bond: License to Kill

License to Kill was released in 1989 and was unusual for a number of reasons. It was a rare outing for Timothy Dalton, it was the first Bond movie not to be shot in the UK and it was also the first not to use the title of an Ian Fleming story. Also, unusually, it featured Bond playing blackjack, rather than his usual casino favorite baccarat (Chemin de Fer, to be a nerd about things). One thing that’s far from unusual is that Britain’s best spy wins – an impressive £250,000 ($400,000)!

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

From Britain’s sexiest spy to their silliest, Austin Powers, the comic creation of Canadian Mike Myers, isn’t quite such a hit. Unaware of the rules Powers decides to stay on five. Interesting tactic from the bad-toothed 1960s sex god. Not one that we recommend though, especially as the dealer hits 20, costing Austin Powers $10,000, as you can see below!

Rain Man

One man who did have a better grasp of numbers was Dustin Hoffman’s autistic character in the Oscar-winning movie Rainman. Hoffman’s character uses his savant math genius to win more than $80,000 counting cards in Vegas despite the casino’s use of a six deck shoe. He doesn’t quite have the same luck playing Wheel of Fortune where his call of number 20 costs Tom Cruise $3,000.

Hangover

Hangover is a great movie and whilst there are countless brilliant scenes and comic moments, for blackjack fans the one that will get them most excited is where the unruly bachelor group manage to successfully function as a card counting team and win big. If only blackjack was so easy!

21

21 just has to feature on this list, seeing as it is about the most successful group of card counters of all time, the MIT team who took down casinos all over the world counting cards at blackjack and winning millions of dollars in the process. If this movie doesn’t get you in the mood for some blackjack we don’t know what will.

Playing online blackjack is fun, period. But it’s even more fun when you’re winning and taking the casino for cold hard cash so avoid the mistakes below to give yourself the very best chance of making a decent profit.

Playing Bad Strategy

Blackjack is great in that it has a low house edge and it has a clearly and unambiguously laid out strategy of playing to ensure the best returns. Played correctly, the casino’s advantage over the player can be as little as 0.5%, or even less if you find a variant of the game with player-friendly rules. However, many players ignore basic strategy, despite it being the mathematically proven way to maximize long term returns.

Maybe you aren’t aware of basic strategy (hint – we have a guide right here on our site) or maybe you just can’t be bothered to use it. Remember, by not making the right calls on when to hit, when to stand or when to double or split, you are throwing cash in the trash!

Playing the Wrong Game

Many US friendly online casinos and blackjack sites offer a choice of slightly different blackjack variants. Some of these, those with liberal rules, will have a house edge at the low end of the aforementioned spectrum, in the region of around 0.5%. However, choose a game with extra decks, tough rules on doubles and, perhaps worst of all, short pays on blackjack, and you are massively increasing the advantage the dealer holds over you. We’ve got four words for you – cash in the trash!

Choosing the Wrong Bonus

When you join a new online casino you may be faced with a choice of casino welcome bonuses. If you dive right in and simply plump for the biggest amount or the highest percentage you may miss out if blackjack is the game you want to play.

Most of the best bonuses are reserved for slots fans, simply because whilst the house edge in blackjack is usually less than 1%, on slots it can be 10 times that or even more! Check the details of the bonus before you dive in and make sure that blackjack is allowed and, ideally, that it contributes at 100%, or at the very least a good solid percentage, towards the bonus wagering requirements.

Okay, well, we’ve got to admit to a slight bias on this one and the fact that we’re writing here at www.reviewblackjack.com is maybe something of a giveaway to our answer. As such we won’t keep you waiting – the short, sweet and simple answer is… yes, blackjack is the best game to be found in a casino, be that online or offline.

There are several reasons why we think this and they relate to the two main reasons people play casino games: to have fun and to make money. Blackjack offers both of those and that, alongside the brilliant combination of being easy to play but hard to master, is what has made it such a popular game for so many years.

Blackjack may have been around, in one form or another, for as long as 400 years or more, but today – whether played in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, or online on your desktop, tablet or cell – it remains one of, if not THE, most popular casino games around.

Low House Edge

Many people, especially those in the know, play blackjack because few, if any, casino games give the player a better chance to walk away with a profit. The house edge is the phrase used to describe the advantage the house – the casino – holds over the player and on some forms of blackjack it can be as low as 0.28%. There are so many slight rule variations with blackjack but a more reasonable figure to use, and one that you would probably find at most online casinos, is around 0.6%. Whilst that’s more than double the lowest possible figure, it still equates to a loss of just $6 from playing 100 hands at $10 and compares very favorably to slots, where the house edge can be as much as 20% and even roulette (2.70% to 5.26%) and Caribbean Stud Poker (5.22%).

Player’s Actions Matter

There is a degree of skill in blackjack that isn’t found in games such as roulette, where you have no other decision to make aside from what to bet on. With blackjack, your choices impact your success and whilst there is a proven method of play – basic strategy – you still have to make the right calls at the right time.

This, along with a very real chance to win, is why we say blackjack is, without doubt, the best game in the casino!

One of the main reasons blackjack is such a popular game is that the house edge – by which we mean the casino’s advantage over the player – is, generally speaking, very low when compared to other casino games. However, many online casinos have lots and lots of different versions of blackjack, many of these featuring slightly different rules in terms of what you can and can’t do, what the dealer does and even things like the number of decks of cards used.

Whilst some online casinos will tell you the precise house edge for whatever game you are playing, some won’t – even if you ask them outright – either because they themselves don’t know or because they just don’t divulge that information.

However, to help you pick the version of blackjack that will give you the greatest chance of winning, here we take a look at the different factors that have an impact on the house edge.

Number of Decks

The fewer the number of decks, the better things are for the player. One deck is great if you can find it but each added deck increases the house edge. For example, all other factors being equal, the jump from four to eight decks changes the casino’s advantage from 0.45% to 0.53% under certain rules, which might not sound like a lot but over the course of hundreds of hands that soon adds up.

Blackjack

Never play blackjack in a game where the payout for hitting the hand of blackjack is less than 3/2. Some casinos pay at 6/5 instead which turns the house edge of 0.53% above into a whopping 1.88% – more than three times as big!

Split Aces

Few casinos let you hit split aces but if you can, our 0.53% edge drops to just 0.34%.

Double

Being able to double on any total is the best option, followed by 9-11 and lastly 10 and 11 only, although the impact of this is relatively small. Not being able to double after a split has a relatively large impact on the house edge, for example turning 0.53% into 0.66%.

Soft 17

If the dealer hits on soft 17 stay away, as this would turn a house edge of 0.53% into a much larger 0.75%.

Other Factors

Other factors that increase the house edge are being able to re-split to just two, rather than more hands, not being able to re-split aces, and not having a surrender rule compared to the rarely found late surrender.

One major advantage of playing online blackjack over doing so in a bricks and mortar establishment is that whilst you may get the odd free drink in a Vegas casino, online casinos and blackjack sites give you cash bonuses to entice you in. And those bonuses are often big, really BIG!

Some sites will offer hundreds or even thousands of dollars to new customers in order to get them to try their site. Whilst this isn’t a case of free money, it certainly gives you a great chance to make some cash, place bigger bets than you would normally place, and enjoy longer playing blackjack than you would ordinarily be able to.

Most blackjack bonuses take the form of a percentage match of your first deposit, with bonuses of 50%, 100% or even higher being the norm. So, let’s say you have a 100% bonus worth up to $1,000: deposit the full $1,000 and you’ll have $2,000 of blackjack action sitting in your account!

In order to withdraw funds you’ll need to complete wagering/rollover requirements and these are usually explained as “X times the deposit plus bonus”. Some online casinos have wagering as low as 15 times the deposit and bonus, whilst others will have as high as 50 or even 100 times!

The higher the rollover, the harder it is to actually clear any of the bonus from your account and walk away in the black. This means that choosing a blackjack bonus with a high percentage and low rollover is really important.

Perhaps even more important is making sure that blackjack counts towards the wagering. If you play at a blackjack specialist you can be confident it will but at many online casinos, unless the bonus is specifically a blackjack offer, the casino’s best game is often either excluded entirely or else only contributes towards the wagering at a reduced percentage.

Other terms to look out for include whether there is a maximum bet (you may be allowed to stake whatever you want but only a portion of that may count towards the wagering requirement), if there is a time limit on the bonus and if some forms of blackjack (for example progressive games) are excluded.

Having checked that you’re good to go, the next step is to actually play the game. Due to the low house edge of blackjack when played to correct strategy, blackjack bonuses give you a real chance of winning, so play smart and good luck!